"I could use a fresh beginning too, all of my regrets are nothing new."

Switchfoot < Learning to Breathe >

»»————-　　————-««

When Namjoon gave Jungkook a week to think about his offer, he hasn't exactly picture the younger man taking a one-way bus to Seoul forty-eight hours later.

"I'll um... I'll do it, hyung," Jungkook speaks softly over the phone, after a long moment of deliberation.

Namjoon exhales the deep breath he's pulled in, throwing a muted and instantaneous fist up into the air. His dimples sink deep beneath his cheeks, as his closed lips draw into two thin lines, curved at its ends. His big, clumsy hands almost misses the hula dancing Hawaiian wooden doll placed on the edge of his colleague's cubicle, leaving it jiggling.

"Phew," Namjoon's eyebrows twitch with short-lived distress. The morning's just begun, but it's beginning to look a lot like his lucky day. "I'm glad you didn't shut me at the door. Well, the interview isn't until Friday. Would you like to stay for a few days at my place?"

As much as Jungkook is grateful for the suggestion, it does feels like he's piling up too much debt onto Namjoon's kindness. After what seems like an awkward pause, he entangles his way out of the spider web. "Actually, hyung. I've already found a place to stay. It's a friend from the military, and he isn't home, so..."

"Ahh...," Namjoon nods to himself, comprehending the situation in full. Jungkook may have not closed the door in his face, but it doesn't mean that he's ready for Namjoon to walk all over his crushed door rug. 

At the very least, Jungkook shows signs of trying. 

And that, for now, is good enough for Namjoon.

"Well, that sounds like a plan. Settle down, prepare for the interview, call me if you have any questions. I know you're gonna do just fine."

"Thanks, hyung," Jungkook lets out a nervous smile. He tries hard at blocking the negativity from entering his mind, earnestly putting his trust in Namjoon.

"I'll see you on Friday at nine, kiddo."

»»————-　　————-««

After several transits, Jungkook finally gets off at the Noksapyeong station. With an enormously big-sized travel backpack, and a 32'' army green carrier in hand, he looks big, even from a distance. 

It is a bustling morning for commuters; even so, the summer heat does not escape Seoul. With narrowed eyes, Jungkook looks up at the cloudless sky, regretting his all-black ensemble. 

Pulling his four-wheeled carrier along the walkway, he searches for the direction of the property agency he's reviewed while on the bus. The map reveals he is three minutes away from his destination, and he lightly adjusts his bucket hat, brushing off the sweat falling on the side of his face. 

Unlike Busan, time seem to move much quicker in Seoul. Noksapyeong may not have been located in the city center, but the haelmoni who manages the agency, a short and round landlady, is a Seoulite through and through. Stepping into her golden era, she commands attention with her raspy voice, grey bob hair and cherry red lips. Jungkook reckons she'd have no problem spilling fear and intimidation into her customers who aren't punctual with their rentals.

Chewing nonchalantly on her gum, granny landlady puts up a cynical smile, glancing curiously at Jungkook from head to toe. She's impressed by his looks, but second guesses her source of income. "What kind of unit are you looking for, young man?"

Uncomfortable with her point-blank stare, Jungkook looks away as politely as he could, fixing his eyes on the wall clock. The first hand of the clock moves closer to the number ten. Mulling over the one month timeline he's given himself to secure a job in Seoul, Jungkook gives a brief explanation, "Yes. Uh... I'm looking for a single unit to stay in, for a month. I saw a number of units on the app here. Would you be able to show them to me?"

Granny landlady takes a moment to scroll through Jungkook's phone screen. The different set of photos from different units elicits her nodding, sighing and grunting; nevertheless she instructs him to leave behind his belongings in the storage area. 

The first apartment he's shown is located a block away from the train station. Aside from commuting convenience, the twelve-stories apartment is armed with a variety of amenities, including the elevator, a security personnel and even an underground parking lot. The building looks relatively new, and its occupants mainly middle-class working adults. Inside the comfortably spacious and air-conditioned elevator, granny landlady taps on the number nine. As soon as the doors close before them, she recites her lines. "You'll have no problem fitting into this neighborhood. These are studios for one, and pets are not allowed here, so you don't have to worry about noise levels."

Jungkook nods without interruption, moving in unison with the landlady as the lift opens. With a tap of the private room-key card on the scanner, she pushes the door handle, unveiling a wooden-tiled open space. "The only downside to this space, is its measurement. There really is no other complaint about this unit."

The unit is sophisticated, just like the photos he's seen. However, 'cozy private living at an affordable budget' is clearly an exaggeration. With one surveying look, Jungkook sums up the room, minus its lavatory, to be no more than 2-pyung. At most, he'll fit a mattress, a desk, his carrier and a moderately-sized cupboard for his clothes and gadgets. Walking into the space, his head comes close to touching the ceiling, and he makes a perceptible hunch to the landlady.

"What do you think?"

Jungkook thinks that whoever who has taken the picture of the unit has done an incredible job. He admits the his loss for buying into the optical illusion crafted by the photographer's angle, and felt like he picked up on a trick or two. His index finger traces below the bottom of his lip. "I think the photographer... he's done a fine job. Shall we move on?"

The next one, three minutes walk from the property agent office, is a second floor shop lot, exactly above a local printing company. Although the walls appear a little worn and dusted, the 4-pyung floor space shows potential, as it looks pretty similar to the profile posted. 

"KRW 500,000 won for this unit and the balcony area."

Stepping out into the balcony for a survey, Jungkook bops his head quietly. "How--"

"BRRHHHHHH..."

The landlady appears flustered at the intrusion of the noise, as is Jungkook. She vents a little louder than she should have. "Aish! Why now!"

The loud clicking, clattering and clunking sound continues.

Jungkook finds himself raising his voice for a simple conversation. He has a hunch on what it might be, but he needs to be sure. "What... is... that... sound?"

The landlady points her index finger towards the ground, bringing the printing company under the room to Jungkook's memory. He checks his watch, and the time reads forty-five minutes past ten. He speaks loudly again, for a follow-up question. "What... time... do... they... close?"

The arms of the landlady intersects before her chest, forming a big letter "X".

"Haelmoni... do... you... not... know?"

"BRRHHHHHH..."

The air in granny landlady's lungs overpowers the printers. "They don't close. The printer works 24/7 even after the boss is long gone!"

Jungkook wishes he hadn't heard her.

"My previous tenants have told me it's quite bearable to live with a earmuffs. If you're okay with the rent, I might throw in a free earmuff for you!"

Jungkook knows he isn't like the other tenants. His ears are able to pick up decibels at an above average level, much like his other senses. The fitness test he'd taken at the military were evidences to prove it. More than anything, he believed that the ears are meant to enjoy good music. Living with a earmuff every night would be a living torture, and he'd much rather squeeze his back to fit into the 2-pyung unit than to live here.

Finding no further reason to linger in this unit, he heads towards the door, calling out loudly. "No... thanks...!"

The third, fourth and fifth unit isn't met with any luck. He only hopes that the last unit was worth his time.

"Are we... are we there yet?" Jungkook asks, with the orange ball of fury hot above his head.

"Just another three more minutes, the building's just over there..." Granny landlady pants before him, as they climbed the steep alley, a winding slope marked with large, irregularly-shaped stone walls. 

Although he isn't anywhere near weary, for a fraction of a second, Jungkook thinks he ought to stop being polite and to call this whole thing off and start looking for another decent property agency. 

Frustration laces the velvet in his voice. "That um... that seems to be what you've just said before the underpass three minutes ago?" 

Turning her head sharply, she flashes a painstakingly annoyed smile, taking offense to Jungkook's straightforward remark. "Is that so? It... it must be great... to be young and able-bodied, isn't it?"

To say the least, granny's eyes were unkindly. They were meant to emit fear and even scare her prospects away. Jungkook, however, did not miss the flicker of agony from those razor-sharp eyes. Instead of a worded reply, he walks forward, overtaking the granny landlady by a few steps. He bends his knees, presenting his broad back, level to her height. A masculine yet gentle voice called out to the elder behind him.

"Get on, haelmoni."

"Wha--"

Jungkook reassures her that it is fine. He's used to piggybacking the elderly when the soldiers were deployed for emergency evacuation efforts during the winter. 

When she finally relents, she hops carefully to his back, hanging to Jungkook's neck for dear life. Her voice remains on the edge. "Now... Keep going straight. After the hill, take the right."

Shifting her weight on his, Jungkook nods without questions. Now that the landlady is spared from having to exert any efforts from walking, she babbles to her heart's content. She talks about the weather's wrath, the dandelions growing by the sideways, and the fact that her grandson hasn't paid a visit in months. 

Jungkook makes a show of his pearly teeth for the first time since this morning.

At the hilly junction, he makes a turn as instructed, and a four-storey, red-bricked villa comes to view. The no-name building is graced by a numeric metallic pop-up board right above its entrance - 134340 - indicating its lot number.

Letting granny landlady off on her two feet, Jungkook makes an observation of his surrounding. Unlike the other units he's shown, the road is cleaner and quieter, considering its distance from the bus and train station. 134340 is without an elevator like most Korean villas, but climbing up three flights of stairs is the furthest concern for him. He makes it under ten seconds, just before the landlady, and notices two units on each side. Judging by the narrow space of the stairs, and the width of the building, he senses that this house hunting is finally going somewhere.

"The room on the right is occupied. You can have a look at this one on the left." Granny landlady announces, slotting the key into the hole on the doorknob. 

The room on the left, or 301, opens to an unexpected two-room unit. The partially-furnished living space is equipped with a lone window at the end of the wall, while the bedroom - dark without sunlight - has only one sliding cabinet, sufficient to keep Jungkook's linen and sheets. 

This 8-pyung unit is the best he's seen all morning.

"What do you say, mister? Two-rooms for KRW 500,000?"

Hungry and soaked in sweat, Jungkook is tempted to sign the papers, call it a day with a lower body bath.

Not another rash and impulsive decision, Kook. 

Gulping down a mouthful of the bottled water, Jungkook finally discerns why the landlady had saved this unit for the last. She'd meant to tire him out from the start, catching him when he is the most unaware. 

He takes a slow walk around the unit, keeping his eyes peeled and his hands nimble. "The heater seems to be broken, the kitchen sink is clogged too. And there seems to be... no washer?" 

Granny landlady's shoulders slump weakly, realizing the boy's eyes were not big for nothing. "I'll get the heater up and running before the fall. As for the kitchen sink--"

"Actually..." Jungkook clears his throat slowly, "I have a proposition."

Granny landlady crosses her arms uncomfortably, but lets him speak nonetheless.

Clutching his fists together, Jungkook weights his options and decides to strike the iron while it's hot.

A slow but certain smile emerges from the corner of his lips. "I'll help fix both the heater and kitchen sink. KRW 400,000 and we can have a deal."